Fastball, one of the most celebrated rock bands on the road today, comes to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Cecilian Auditorium on September 10, 2013 at 8 p.m. The platinum-selling artists will deliver perfectly blended vocals, unique acoustic guitar and rhythmic piano jams often with a rock/jazzy feel.
With nearly 20 years of musical milestones under its belt, the Austin, Texas-based trio, Tony Scalzo, (vocals, bass, keyboards, guitar), Joey Shuffield (drums, percussion) and Miles Zuniga (vocals, guitar) exploded into a household name in 1998. Fastball quickly built a strong following in the Austin area, and created a regional buzz. In their breakthrough project, All the Pain Money Can Buy, Fastball joined the likes of fellow artfully spun acts like The Wallflowers, Matthew Sweet, The Jayhawks, Cracker and the Ryan Adams-fronted Whiskeytown on the charts.
“I think we’ve grown into a really good rock n’ roll band that’s way better than we’ve ever been,” reinforces vocalist/guitarist Miles Zuniga. “I think of myself as a lifer, a journeymen, who really enjoys the whole process. We have an audience that’s stuck with us the whole time and playing shows never feels like work because it’s a ton of fun. We know people want to hear the hits and we definitely have those in there, but we try to play something off every record, have some improvisational moments without turning into a jam band, and half the time, I start calling out the set list as we go. It all depends on the night and the barometric pressure of the audience.”
The Grammy nominated band’s “The Way” stayed on top of Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart for seven weeks, and was a top five hit on Billboard’s Top 40 Mainstream chart. Theyfollowed-up with “Out of My Head” which reached the top ten on Billboard’s Top 40 chart and was a top ten hit on the Adult Top 40 chart for 29 weeks. This sent the band on a world tour. Along the way, they were in a regular rotation on the late night talk show circuit with Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien to name a few.
Fastball released their fourth album in 2004, “Keep Your Wig On”. It features singles “Airstream,” “Drifting Away,” and “Lou-ee, Lou-ee,” with the last being released as a single in Europe only.
In 2007, “The Way” was voted number 94 on VH1’s television special “The 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s.”
Tickets are available at the door for $5 and are free to faculty, staff and students with I.D.
For more information, call 812-535-5219.